(WBAL) - Police in Baltimore, Maryland are looking for a man who they say killed four puppies in a gruesome incident.

An arrest warrant was issued for Donald Yearwood, charging him with 17 counts of animal cruelty and animal abuse-related charges, police said.

Witnesses told police that Yearwood stomped on the puppies and threw them down a flight of stairs after they disrupted his sleep. Several young children witnessed the attack, police said.

"Those children, they did what we want them to do, they immediately left the location, they went to a safe area, they told their parents what happened and their parents called the police," Baltimore police Detective Jeremy Silbert said.